German Jewish refugee reading newspaper in Shanghai housing facility

About 18,000 Jewish refugees had fled to Shanghai, China by the end of 1941. It was the only free port in the world willing to grant them asylum without passports or guarantees of an ultimate destination. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) sent its representatives Laura Margolis and Manuel Siegel to assist the destitute Jews who faced deplorable sanitary conditions and drastic food shortages. In cooperation with the local Committee for the Assistance of European Jewish Refugees, Margolis and Siegel built a well-oiled emergency relief operation, including hostels to house the refugees, food programs and other critical service that sustained the refugees for the duration of the war. Together, they succeeded in organizing a system of emergency relief with the equipment needed to run steam kitchens capable of feeding 10,000 people per day. These kitchens kept the refugees alive for the duration of the war.